


Happiest

by grasslandgirl



Category: American Vandal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Actors, M/M, Theater AU, and im not sorry about it, jebi is there but background mostly, this is possibly the MOST self indulgent thing ive EVER written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-23
Updated: 2019-05-23
Packaged: 2020-03-09 22:01:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18925855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grasslandgirl/pseuds/grasslandgirl
Summary: A few weeks ago, Peter had noticed someone talking loudly as they walked down the street past his house every night, right around when Peter was- theoretically- working on his homework. At first, Peter had tried to ignore the voice, assuming it was a bunch of neighbors wandering the streets and talking, but eventually he realized it was only ever the one voice. There were never any responses, and he never even paused long enough for anyone to respond, so Peter doubted he was talking on the phone, either. It was weird, some guy would meander past Peter’s house every night, talking loudly about some random topic to himself.Something about his voice, though… He was passionate, laughing sometimes, and other times Peter thought it sounded like he was about to start crying. It was endearing, whatever it was, and somehow hearing this guy talk had wormed its way into Peter’s routine. He would keep his window open- even when it was windy or the pollen threatened his asthma- just to hear this guy talk.





	Happiest

**Author's Note:**

> im so sorry for this trash heap you guys but sometimes the muse grabs you by the balls and forces you to write something at gun point, you know? that isn't what happened here, i have no one to blame for this but myself to be honest  
> the show they talk about in this is DNA by Dennis Kelly, and while you don't have to have read the play to understand/follow/appreciate this fic, I'd highly recommend it, just because it will give a little bit of context, and also its just a great show!  
> [you can read the show here](http://www.tdms.worcs.sch.uk/old%20live%20files/homework/Drama/Year10/10052017-DNA%20Scanned%20Text.pdf)  
> for reference, Sam is playing a character listed as "LEAH" in the og script (called Lee in the fic), Gabi is playing someone listed as "MARK" in the script (called Mia in the fic), and Jenna plays someone listed as "CATHY" in the script!

Peter glanced to his right, checking (for the fourth time that afternoon) to make sure his window was open. It was. It had been open, in fact, for the last forty-five minutes. Peter sighed, and turned back to his laptop, trying to focus on the essay he needed to finish for his English class.

“Are you happy?” A voice came- loudly- from outside.

Peter fought off the urge to jump up and run to the window when he heard the voice, instead casually scooting his rolly-chair over so he could peek out the window. As though anyone could see him, fawning over some guy he didn’t even know like some stalker.

A few weeks ago, Peter had noticed someone talking loudly as they walked down the street past his house every night, right around when Peter was- theoretically- working on his homework. At first, Peter had tried to ignore the voice, assuming it was a bunch of neighbors wandering the streets and talking, but eventually he realized it was only ever the one voice. There were never any responses, and he never even paused long enough for anyone to respond, so Peter doubted he was talking on the phone, either. It was weird, some guy would meander past Peter’s house every night, talking loudly about some random topic to himself.

Something about his voice, though… He was passionate, laughing sometimes, and other times Peter thought it sounded like he was about to start crying. It was endearing, whatever it was, and somehow hearing this guy talk had wormed its way into Peter’s routine. He would keep his window open- even when it was windy or the pollen threatened his asthma- just to hear this guy talk.

“No, I'm just wondering.” He continued with, “I mean what is happy, what's happy all about, who says you're supposed to be happy?” He sounded kind of riled up, Peter thought, but he’d also made a good point. Peter wondered if the guy knew that he was being listened to. Peter wondered if he’d mind. “Like we’re all supposed to be happy, happy is our natural, and any deviation from that state is seen as a failure.” He scoffed, loud enough for Peter to hear through his window, two stories up. “Which, in itself, makes you more unhappy so you have to pretend to be even happier, which doesn't work because people can see that you're pretending. Which makes them awkward, and you can see that they can see that you're pretending to be happy, and their awkwardness is making you even more unhappy so you have to pretend to be _even happier,_ it's a nightmare.” The mystery speaker’s voice faded as he walked down the street, talking all the way, until Peter couldn’t make out his words anymore.

He groaned, slouching back in his chair for a minute, before sitting back up, closing his window, and turning back to his essay. The guy only walked by once a night- Peter spent the first few nights he heard him with the window open, waiting for him to come back by for hours on end, to no avail- and the essay was due in class the next day.

After fifteen minutes of ineffective attempts at essay writing, Peter finally succumbed and picked up his phone.

 **_Peter:_ ** _I hate boys. and feelings. and essays._

Mere seconds later, his phone buzzed with a response, just as he knew it would.

 **_Jenna:_ ** _tough night?_

 **_Peter:_ ** _why am I pining over someone ive never even seen, much less spoken too?_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _bc you, like me, are a useless gay_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _duh_

 **_Peter:_ ** _u have a gf, jen_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _obviously i am LESS useless than u_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _but I knew that already_

 **_Peter:_ ** _ugh_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _why dont u just, oh idk, talk to him???_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _go out and sit on ur front porch tomorrow night and when he comes by just be like “oh hey”_

 **_Peter:_ ** _and then what? “oh hey I heard u talking to urself the last couple weeks and listened in like a stalker! wanna date?”_

 **_Peter:_ ** _cause THAT’S not creepy_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _no one ever said love was easy_

 **_Peter:_ ** _ur no help at all_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _u know u love me_

Peter smiled and rolled his eyes, dropping his phone face down on the desk. Frankly, he was happy Jenna was still even listening to him pine over the mystery guy who wandered his neighborhood. It’d been nearly three weeks, and Jenna hadn’t banned the topic of conversation. Yet.

His phone buzzed with another text from Jenna.

 **_Jenna:_ ** _hey u HAVE bought ur tix for my show, right??_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _its this weeked, bitch_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _if ur not there im gonna kick ur ass_

 **_Peter:_ ** _yeah, yeah I know, and I bought my tickets already don’t worry_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _good cause u KNOW u dont wanna miss out on my break out role: teenage bitch in a high school drama_

_Peter: so it’s not any difference than u on a normal day?_

**_Jenna:_ ** _fuck OFF peter_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _im playing a hetero, for your information, so it’s an extreme artistic stretch for me, thank you very much_

 **_Peter:_ ** _you’re going to be great_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _i knew that already_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _but thanks_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _and gabi’s SO GOOD in it too ok_

 **_Peter:_ ** _you’ve mentioned that_

 **_Peter:_ ** _daily_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _shut up_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _ALSO there’s this really cute GUY in the show that i think u’d liiiiiiiike_

 **_Peter:_ ** _jenna_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _he’s funny and talented and i know for a FACT he’s into dudes ok_

 **_Peter:_ ** _jenna_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _and hes CUTE_

 **_Peter:_ ** _jenna what did I say about trying to set me up_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _whatever_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _ur loss petey_

 **_Peter:_ ** _hey jen?_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _what_

 **_Peter:_ ** _can you edit my essay for Hynes?_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _send it over_

 **_Jenna:_ ** _god what WOULD you do w/o me_

* * *

It was Friday night when Peter went to the high school to see Jenna’s show. Not that he had anything better to do on a Friday night. He had bought his ticket ahead of time online, so when he showed the email receipt to the girl at the counter she just waved him past.

An usher- some girl in a button down and slacks he vaguely recognized- smiled politely and handed him a program, telling him that he could sit wherever he wanted in the space. Peter was early, as always, so he had his pick of seats in the small performance space. The show wasn’t being performed in the big auditorium upstairs, instead it was in a smaller room on the first floor of the school- the Black Box, the website he had bought his tickets from said. There were floor-to-ceiling curtains along one side of the room, and it looked like they were dividing a small section of the room off from where he and the rest of the audience were sitting. There were folding chairs on wooden risers on all four sides of the room, with some even up against the curtains in the back, all facing in towards the center. Peter hadn’t really gone to any other plays at his school- honestly, he was only coming to this one because he knew Jenna would kick his ass if he didn’t- but this was really different from the few school-mandated presentations in the big auditorium he’d seen.

For one, it was a lot smaller than the auditorium upstairs, with only a few rows of seats on all four sides, and the booth where Peter assumed the light and sound controls were was tucked neatly into one corner, as opposed to up in a separate room at the top of the auditorium. The stage, too, was different than he’d expected. There weren’t many set or props onstage- at least, not yet- only a few wooden pieces that looked a little like stools in a couple of the corners, painted to match the floor. The floor itself was broken into thirds, with one big triangle stretching the length of one side, and coming to a point in the middle of the opposite side of the stage, and two smaller triangles on either end, forming a rectangle that spanned the entirety of the open space in the middle of the room. All three triangles were painted different colors; a dirty brown-green, a gray that looked like asphalt, and a bright foresty green.

As other people arrived and the audience started to fill up, Peter flipped through the program the usher had given him, finding both Jenna and Gabi listed. Jenna was playing someone named _Cathy,_ and Gabi was playing someone named _Mia._ The cast was small, with only eleven actors including Gabi and Jen; alongside them were a handful of designers, technicians, and production members listed. Peter recognized a couple names, especially some of the technicians, but the only people he really knew were Jenna and Gabi.

And really, he only knew Gabi very well because she was dating Jenna.

Eventually, the lights around him dimmed, and the rest of the audience quieted as a teacher Peter recognized from around school- Mr. Kelly, the director- came out from backstage.

“Welcome everybody, and thank you all so much for coming,” He said, spreading his arms and smiling broadly at the- fairly full- audience. “We’re so glad to have you here, but before the show starts, I have a few brief announcements.” Kelly ran through the emergency fire exits for the space, and mentioned that because this was a highschool smoking and alcohol weren’t allowed. He also mentioned that despite this being performed by high schoolers, it dealt with some pretty heavy themes, and advised parents of young children that the show was rated PG-13, and that they should prepare accordingly.

Eventually, finally, he left the stage, the lights went down again, and the show started.

When the lights came back up, Gabi was standing onstage in one corner, across from another girl Peter didn’t recognize.

“Dead?” The other girl asked.

Gabi nodded. “Yeah.”

“What, dead?”

“Yeah,” Gabi repeated.

 _What the fuck?_ Peter wondered, narrowing his eyes and trying to puzzle through what as happening, _Who’s dead?_

They didn’t explain. The two women- Mia, and the other that Peter assumed was Jan- argued back and forth for a minute before the realization that _someone_ was dead settled in.

“God,” Jan said.

“Exactly.” Gabi- or, well, Mia, technically- was shaking a little as she spoke.

“What are we going to do?” Jan asked, and Mia just shook her head as the lights fell.

When the lights came back on again, Jan and Mia had left the stage, and the opposite corner was lit. There were two boys; one sitting on a little wooden hill in the corner eating what looked like an ice cream cone, and the other one starting to pace the length of the corner.

“What are you thinking?” The second one asked, a little curious and a little demanding, fiddling with the edges of the flannel he was wearing over his t-shirt. The other boy- the one sitting- didn’t answer, just sat in silence and licked his ice cream. “No, don't tell me,” the first boy continued, “sorry, that's a stupid, that's such a stupid-” he paused. “You can tell me, you know. You can talk to me. I won't judge you, whatever it is. Whatever you're, you know, I won't, I won't.” He kept talking, but something about what he was saying struck a chord in Peter. Not because he understood or sympathized what the character was going through, necessarily, but because Peter swore he had heard this exact conversation before. “Is it me?”

_Holy shit._

Peter had heard about epiphanies happening like bolts of lightning, but he had always been the type to come to realizations gradually, through careful reasoning and research. This wasn’t that.

Peter had assumed, over the past few weeks, that the mystery talker outside his window had just been taking the opportunity of a walk to talk through whatever issues or problems he had been going through. Now, he realized that wasn’t the case.

He had been monologuing. Rehearsing. Specifically, for this play. For this scene and, Peter assumed, the scenes following it.

“Are you thinking about me?”

And he was _good._

“What, good things? Phil? Or... I mean is it a negative, are you thinking a negative thing about- not that I'm bothered.” He scoffed, pacing faster now, gesturing wildly with his hands as he talked, “I'm not bothered, Phil, I'm not, it doesn't, I don't _care._ You know. I don't…” He paused, weighing some kind of realization as Peter watched, enraptured. “What, like I talk too much? Is that it? That I talk too much, you, sitting there in absolute silence thinking _'Lee talks too much, I wish he'd shut up once in a while'_ is that it?” Peter snuck a glance down at his program to figure out the actor’s name, and there, listed just under Gabi’s name, was _Lee Gray: Sam Ecklund._

He was cute, too, Peter noticed almost sheepishly. A little on the taller side, and beanpole thin, he was always tugging at the flannel that was almost comically large on him. His hair looked brown, peeking out from underneath the beanie he had on his head, and Peter swore it looked like he was wearing a smudged bit of eyeliner.

 _God,_ Peter thought, _I’m fucked._

Peter watched, almost awestruck, as Lee- Sam, technically- finished his monologue, and as Mia and Jan reentered, saying they needed to talk to him.

The rest of the show flew by, with Peter scrambling to keep up as Jan, Mia, Jenna’s character Cathy, and a handful of other teenagers revealed to Lee- and the audience- that they had accidentally killed a classmate, a girl named Eve the night before. They had been hazing her to be a part of their little friend group, and by the end of the night they dared her to climb up and stand on a grate above an empty well, where they threw rocks at her until she fell down.

Then, for the first time in the show, Phil spoke. He explained how they all were going to work together to cover it up, pulling together a convoluted scheme in the blink of an eye, before sitting back down, self satisfied.

When the lights came back up, Phil and Lee were back in their corner, on their hill in the play, and Lee was talking about bonobos and chimpanzees as Phil passively watched on. Peter recognized this monologue too, and he wondered how much of the show he’d already inadvertently heard.

At the end of the show, it was revealed that the dead girl, Eve, hadn’t died in the fall after all, and had been living for the past few months in the woods, crazed, injured, and almost entirely feral. Phil, despite Lee’s protests and arguments, sent Cathy and Brian- a boy who had nearly gone crazy from the trauma of the entire ordeal- to suffocate Eve and leave her body in the woods, where no one would ever learn about their cover up.

Lee left Phil behind on the hill in the next scene, and when Mia and Jan appeared on their little corner- same as they had the last three times- they said he was gone.

Gone where, gone how, they didn’t know. The show closed with Phil sitting, silent as always, distant in a way he had never been with Lee, and covered with snow as another character- Richard- begged for him to come back. Phil didn’t respond.

Peter wasn’t much of a crier, but he caught himself blinking away a few tears as the cast slowly came out one by one to a hauntingly slow sad song, all of them awash in blue light as Phil wandered through them like a wax museum. When the music shifted into something more upbeat, and the cast all bowed simultaneously, Peter swore that the actor who played Lee- Sam, according to the program- was staring at him.

The audience filed out of the space after the cast left the stage, and Peter followed, still reeling a little bit from the show. He waited in the lobby area outside the auditorium, and after a few minutes the cast came rushing out and into the waiting crowd. Peter waited off to one side, away from the bulk of the crowd. Jenna found him quickly, though, and came walking up, holding her head high in pride.

Peter started clapping as she walked up, opening her arms to accept the praise, with Gabi following just behind her. “Shit, you guys,” he said, pulling both of them in for a hug in greeting, “that was incredible.”

“I know,” Jenna said smugly, and Gabi smacked her playfully on the shoulder.

“Thank you Peter, I’m glad you enjoyed it,” she said, shooting a glare at her girlfriend, who just shrugged.

“We killed it, babe, I’m just giving credit where credit is due!” Jenna crowed, throwing an arm around both Gabi and Peter’s shoulders. “Oh, shit,” she said suddenly, pulling away and taking a few steps forward. “Sam!” She called to someone in the crowd of actors and audience members, “Sammy! _Ecklund!_ ”

“What, Jenna?” A staggeringly familiar voice responded, and something in Peter’s chest caught.

Sam Ecklund, the guy who had played Lee, Peter’s mystery talker, approached them from the crowd, staring at Jenna expectantly. Jenna grinned, the broad, catlike smile that meant she was getting what she wanted. She grabbed Peter’s arm, pulling him out from behind her, and gestured to Sam. “I just wanted to introduce you, Sam, this is Peter; Peter, this is Sam.” Peter felt his face burst into flames. Sam had wiped off any make up he had had on backstage, and had changed from his costume into what Peter assumed were his street clothes- jeans, an oversized sweater, and a snapback advertising for something Peter didn’t recognize.

He was still _really_ cute.

 _Does Jenna know? Is this the guy she’s been trying to set me up with? Does Sam think I’m some creepy stalker?_ Peter wondered, shooting a quick glare at Jenna for throwing him under the bus, before smiling sheepishly at Sam; who looked as uncomfortable and awkward as he felt.

“You were incredible up there,” Peter said, hoping that was a reasonable compliment to say to a near stranger. Hoping Sam couldn’t see Peter’s increasingly overwhelming crush blatant on his face like a tattoo on his forehead.

“Thanks,” Sam grinned, quick and bright, “that means a lot. I’m really glad you enjoyed it; are you and Jenna friends?”

“Petey and I have been friends since middle school,” Jenna chimed in.

“Petey?” Sam asked, incredulous and eager.

“Yeah,” Peter cringed, “Jenna’s the only one who calls me that. But, uh, yeah we’ve been friends for like forever, and I knew I had to come support her and Gabi in her big stage debut.”

“That and he knew if he didn’t come, that I’d kick his ass.”

“That too,” Peter agreed, and Sam laughed.

And _fuck,_ he was beautiful when he laughed.

Peter could feel Jenna’s eyes on him, smug and knowing as she watched his gay panic happen in real time.

* * *

_It is totally reasonable,_ Peter thought, _to want to go see my friends’ play for a second night in a row. I’m going to support them, to support my school, the theatre department… right?_ He pulled his hoodie on and shook his head at himself in the mirror. _You’re ridiculous,_ he admonished himself silently, before grabbing his phone off his dresser and heading out the door anyway. There was no reason he couldn’t just mildly hate himself at the show.

Jenna, at least, would be pleased to see him- maybe too pleased, maybe too smug, maybe more than a little suspicious- but still. It was a little pathetic to go see a show just to pine over an actor for an hour and a half. Why couldn’t Peter’s helpless gay crush be someone completely unattainable, instead of someone just mostly unattainable? Someone who, Peter was sure, would have no interest in his creepy stalker neighbor who fell in love with him monologuing for a dark school play on the street.

Peter went to see the play anyway.

It was just as incredible the second time around; maybe even better. Peter cried at the end again, even though he knew what was coming, and if Peter didn’t know better, he would swear that Sam stared at him during the show.

Jenna tackled him straight out of the gate, still laughing and loudly singing along to the song from bows with the rest of the cast as they slowly dispersed into the congratulatory crowd. “You came again, you little asshole!” She cheered, too caught up in the euphoria of ending the show to care about appearances “You didn’t tell me you were coming tonight!”

“I thought I’d surprise you,” Peter answered, grinning at her antics, and it wasn’t totally a lie.

“Wait.” Jenna sobered, scrutinizing Peter with the critical eye he knew meant that she was somehow psychically unearthing all his secrets. A slow, pleased smile spread across Jenna’s face. “I know why you’re really here, huh, Petey?” And despite his best wishes, Peter felt his face heat up in what might as well have been an admission of guilt. Jenna’s smile, somehow, grew even wider. “Gabs!” She yelled into the crowd, winking at Peter over her shoulder, “Guess who came to see the show a second time?”

“Who?” Gabi yelled back, already cutting her way through the crowd to join them. Peter liked Gabi. She was funny, and _nice_ in a way Jenna never had been- they balanced each other out, softened the other’s soft edges in a way Peter appreciated. But, when Gabi saw him standing awkwardly- guiltily- next to Jenna, she smiled in a toothy, knowing way that was far too similar to Jenna for comfort. _Maybe_ , Peter realized rather belatedly, _there’s another reason Gabi and Jenna get on so well_. “Oh, hey Peter!” She called, still grinning. “Hold on, I need to grab someone!” And before Peter could say anything in response, she disappeared back into the crowd.

“I- I should probably get going,” Peter said quickly, his stomach sinking, smiling as apologetically as he could to Jenna, “it’s getting late and all-”

“Hell no, Maldonado.” Jenna said, still watching for Gabi in the crowd.

After a moment, Gabi- dragging Sam behind her- cut her way back through the crowd in their direction. “Peter!” She said warmly, pulling him on for a quick hug in greeting, winking surreptitiously as she pulled away. “I’m so glad you came again!”

“Right, yeah...” Peter awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “I really enjoyed it last night, and I didn’t have any plans so I thought I’d come see- um, come see the show again.”

Sam grinned, wide and bright and beautiful. “Yeah I uh-” He rubbed the back of his neck like a nervous habit. “I thought I saw you in the audience again tonight.”

“Yeah, you were- you all were really good. Again.” Peter winced. Could he not be an awkward gay piece of shit for _once?_ He felt Jenna and Gabi’s smug grins on him, even though Peter was intentionally avoiding their gaze. He was a little busy smiling at Sam anyway; because Sam was smiling back. He was smiling _back._

“Thanks, man.”

“Right.”

“God!” Jenna’s voice- filled with amusement- cut through them abruptly. “Get a room, you two!” She winked, and Peter wasn’t sure whether it was at him or Sam.

* * *

“Peter!” Sam called, and Peter froze mid-step, wincing. He’d been caught. It was one thing to come to a friend’s show once to support them, or even twice if you had really enjoyed it, but coming three nights in a row was creepy; even by Peter’s standards. He’d planned on showing up and sitting in the back, pining over Sam for the last time, and sneaking out of the lobby as soon as the show ended. If Jenna found out he came _again,_ she’d never let him live it down.

Somehow, something worse than Jenna catching him in the middle of an embarrassing crush-fueled stalking moment had happened. _Sam_ had caught him.

“Oh, hey Sam,” Peter said, turning around slowly and attempting nonchalance. “Uh, what’s up?”

Sam finished jogging up to Peter- he must’ve run from backstage through the lobby to catch up with him, which made something squeeze in Peter’s stomach- and fixed him with a kind of baffled grin by way of response. “Dude.” He panted a little. “The show?”

Peter shrugged sheepishly. He didn’t have an answer- or at least, not one he could admit to Sam without coming across as a huge stalker.

Sam, for some reason, looked a little nervous. “Did Jenna tell you to come?” He asked, frowning, “Cause if this is her trying to pull something, I swear I’m going-”

“What?” Peter interrupted. “No. Jenna didn’t tell me to come, she doesn’t even know I’m here. Honestly, if she did, she’d never let me live it down.”

“Oh, uh, why _are_ you here then?” Peter flushed and scrambled for a reasonable excuse. “Cause, like, not that I’m not like- super flattered you’re here, but-” Sam scoffed, cutting himself off and grinning helplessly. He was wearing the same baseball hat he’d been wearing two nights prior, when Peter first came to see the show, but he was twisting it up almost anxiously in his hands. “Ok, look, this is kind of weird, and maybe a little creepy, but I, uh. I kind of like you? Like, _like-like_ you. You’re always on the morning announcements and you’re super cute and smart and you always give these hysterical little quips to your co-host, Madison? And I might have like, ranted about you to Jenna and Gabi a couple times, because I didn’t know you were friends with her, and then when you were here the other night, and Jenna introduced you, I thought she was trying to like. Set us up or something. Or maybe just fucking with me, it’s Jenna, I don’t know.” Sam laughed and Peter, more than a little stunned, laughed too. “I just. I needed to say that because I didn’t manage to say it to you when you came last night, and when I saw you in the audience again tonight I knew I had to say something. So. Yeah.”

“I…” Peter started, at a loss for words, and saw Sam’s face slowly crumple as Peter didn’t respond. “I think I live in your neighborhood?” He said eventually, and Sam’s face rapidly shifted from disappointment to hope to confusion. “You uh, you’ve been walking around most nights after school talking out loud- practicing your monologues- and I… I would listen?” Peter cringed, somehow it was worse saying it aloud. “I’ve been sitting by my window every night for like, three weeks now, totally hung up on some guy I hadn’t ever even seen until I came and saw the show for the first time and realized it was you. And not only were you like, really interesting to listen to and really cute, but you were super talented.”

“And best friends with your best friend’s girlfriend?” Sam asked, grinning again now, brighter than before, all traces of disappointment long gone.

“Yes,” Peter laughed a little, “that too. So, uh, yeah. I like you too.”

“God,” Sam said, dragging his hand across his face. “Jenna and Gabs are never gonna let us live this down, huh?”

“I don’t think so,” Peter agreed, half dreading having to explain the whole thing, and half thrilled at Sam’s casual use of _‘us.’_

“Hey Peter?” Sam asked, taking a few steps closer, so that he was less than a foot away.

“Yeah?”

“We’re having, uh, a cast party tonight, to celebrate closing the show. Do you want to come? With me?”

Peter nodded, and Sam glowed. “Sweet.”

“You’re the one that’s telling Jenna and Gabi, though.”

“What do you want me to tell them?”

Peter grinned like it was the easiest thing in the world. “That our first date was a cast party for a high school play.”

“Deal.”

And maybe, despite Jenna’s smug grin and self professed title of the ‘world’s greatest matchmaker,’ it was one of the best nights of Peter’s life.

“Are you happy?” He whispered to Sam at the end of the night, when they were both giddy and punch drunk on sugar at three in the morning. Sam giggled, rolled his eyes, and punched him in the shoulder. Which Peter kind of deserved for quoting his own show at him.

But then, in a dark corner at the end of the night, Sam kissed him. And suddenly everything shifted into place.

 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading this omg and as always questions/comments/critiques/notes/kudos are always always welcomed! you can find me on tumblr @grasslandgirl  
> and buckets of love and thanks to the two wonderful ladies who beta'd for me: Ananda and Maddie!! i love y'all <3


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